INFANT'S DEATH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19699, 3 August 1938, Page 4

INFANT'S DEATH

WAIHAU BAY INQUIRY DISAPPEARANCE SEQUEL EXPLANATION TO POLICE BURIAL WITHOUT INQUEST Efforts by natives of the Waihau Bay area to trace a child who some time ago was handed by her mother to friends living at a distance had a sequel this week in an interview with the police on the part of relatives of the child, and a sudsequent interrogation of the mother and the adopted mother. The admission that the child had died from natural causes and had been burieci without notification to the district coroner resulted from this Interrogation. Police inquiries into the matter are proceeding, a detective having been dispatched from police headquarters in Gisborne to continue We investigation with the aid of district constables. The Maoris of Waihau Bay have been much disturbed concerning the disappearance of the child, rumours of foul play having been circulating for some days prior to the police Deing called upon to investigate the matter. Transference of Child It is stated that the mother of the child is- a devotee of a Maori religious sect, and that some months ago ner sister had a supernatural inspiration which led to the holding ji a hui, to which other members oi the sect from as far aiield as Hicks day were invited in the expectation of important revelations. ■ At this hui, which did not produce the revelations anticipated, the child was present in the care of her adopted parents, and later was taken back to their home. Some of the tribal elders later interested themselves in the child's welfare, but could secure no information as to her whereabouts. Latterly, fearing that some harm had come to the child, .ne relatives informed the police, and sought action to determine the disposal of the child. When reports received by the Herald concerning the case were referred to Inspector G. W. Edwards at police headquarters to-day, he stated .hat the story told by the Maori women concerning the death of the child from illness was being checked up, and that further action would depend upon the results of this inquiry. His information in regard to the case was not extensive, he added, but a detective had been dispatched to assist in the investigation.